Muslims on the Internet: the Good, the Bad...the Ugly

by Huma Ahmad

The era of the technological age is upon us. We
communicate in seconds with e-mails and fax's. Information of
every type is accessible to anyone with a modem from what was
originally intended to be a government network for research projects,
now called the Internet. The average person is able to create,
advertise and publish easily for an audience of millions on the
World Wide Web. Thoughts and ideas are exchanged, discussed and
argued across thousands of chat channels, muds and newsgroups
for every possible topic ever imagined. Businesses, educators
and fortune hunters all stumble over each other to see who can
best exploit the new opportunities. The global electronic
village is open for business and the garish neon 24 hour sign
seems to keep blinking an urgent message: "New Frontier: Danger
Ahead."

The philosophy of the Internet comes from its
originators; laid back computer programmers, information
and technology addicts. They wanted to create something
special. Something no one business, government or group could
control. A true democracy circumventing normal channels and
reaching to the deepest grass roots. A frontier where anyone
could go out and make it, where those with common interests
could connect with each other and ignore the normal barriers of
race, nationality, and tradition. An ideology of community,
working together exchanging ideas, and making the world a better
place was their vision.

Noble beginnings, and this too was in the minds of the
Muslims when we first joined the rush. Many were even
part of the original builders, software engineers, and
programmers, due to many Muslims themselves being in the
Computer Science Information fields. We began mailing lists,
newsgroups, chat lines, and web pages about Islam. Here was one
place where we could actually get the true message of Islam to
the outside world. Through the net, we could influence those
who never would have encountered Islam or only received their
information from the media, orientalists or anti-Islam
propagandists. We could reach others and share and discuss
ideas to help bring the Ummah closer. Muslims separated and
spread out all over could feel the intimacy of being an e-mail
or modem's dial away from each other. It would open new heights
in our ability to organize and plan events, to share knowledge,
articles, experiences.

What we forgot though, was to read the sign.

Excellent Islamic homepages sprung up, but so too did
the Ahmadiyya, Nation of Islam, and every other deviant
sect's. To the point where doing a search on Islam, may indeed
give you 72 links to different views, along with a host of
anti-Islam sites giving blatantly false information and
arguments by missionaries.

Newsgroups to discuss Islam are inundated with
non-Muslims who's jobs seem to be to attack and divide
Muslims at every turn, instead of discussing Islam. Bitter
fights among the Muslims involving everything from Aqeedah to
prayer to censorship have continued for years. Control of the
newsgroup soc.religion.islam is a prime example. At one point,
during the election of moderators, accusations of voting fraud
and hacking were reported to school and police authorities. The
job of co-moderating, effectively controlling all content and
discussion in the newsgroup was then given to a non-Muslim
regular.

MSA-net and other mailing lists too have had their share
of contending with special interests threatening to
destroy it. Faced with lawsuits against the university that
hosted the listserv, by a Sufi group complaining about the
Shurah council banning them due to their violation of the rules,
the list was then moved to an all Muslim owned site. Groups,
not individuals dominate the e-mail list much of the time.
Sufis, Hizb-ut-tahrir, Salafees, Shia, Islamic organizations,
etc. all post their own agendas.

Muslim chat rooms and muds such as Isnet are especially
the hang outs for high school and college age Muslims.
They are places for them to talk to other Muslims like
themselves from all over the United States and elsewhere. For
many, it may have the benefit of being an alternative to other
non-Islamic activities, but it is also highly addictive and
highly unregulated. Flirting and private on-line relationships
are pervasive. Also, among some of the Internet chat channels
such as channel islam is a very anti-Kuffar sentiment, with
scripts such as "Muslim pulls out a baseball bat, Muslim smashes
Jew over the head, Muslim wipes off the blood." The few who
control the islam channel kick and ban arbritrarily whoever
disagrees with their opinion or definition of Islam. Where the
potential for Dawah is at its greatest, the reputation of being
narrow-minded and hypocritical has increased clashes and hacking
between even the different Muslim channels, such as islam versus
pakistan versus bangladesh.

No scholars or Sheikhs are present on any of these
mediums. There are no authorities or any kind of
collaborative effort on the part of Muslims. Advice and Fatwas
to non-Muslims and Muslims are given out by basically anyone and
dangerously lacking in references or scholarly wisdom and
knowledge.

Despite everything, there are many positives to Muslims
being on the Internet. In fact it has influenced many in
good ways, from just increasing their Iman and knowledge to
eventually leading people to Shahadah. This new technology has
been a breakthrough in communication among Muslims. Conferences
and events are well publicized and organizational logistics have
been enhanced significantly and economically. Muslim activism is
spread on- line. News is obtained directly from Muslim sources
and not western media. Even the announcements of Ramadan and
Eid are quickly distributed and followed.

Students, sisters, those who live in far flung
communities or even places where there are very few
Muslims or any who might not otherwise be Islamically active,
can get the information they need and try to stay in touch with
their Islam. Hundreds of articles and books are available, from
the Quran on-line in Indonesian to Ibn Taymeeyah's Essay on the
Jinn to How to make Istakhara prayer.

So, while on the surface it may seem like a glittering
tool, the reality of today makes one question the
direction of Muslims on the net and highlights and points out
the cracks in our Ummah dramatically.

Half due to ignorance, half due to avoidance, Islamic
organizations and scholars refuse to get involved or try
to create a presence or authority on the net. Muslim
programmers and computer professionals do not use their
knowledge to improve the content or build amazing Islamic
programs like they could be. Muslims are not using it to its
full Dawah potential and are not looking beyond their egos to
work with one another in Shurah to make it a place of not just
fun, but of benefit for themselves and others.

Facing all these positives and negatives, Muslims in
cyberspace are at a turning point. The net and modern
technology have created situations that are unlike any we have
had to face in the past. As a microcosm and extension of our
Muslim society, understanding and helping solve our problems on
the net can be a first step in understanding the Muslims as a
whole, our differences and how to resolve them.